Tempest: The Renegade

Phase 2: Battleground, part 1

"You can never defeat us! You get it? Never! And do you know why? You will always be outnumbered. There will always be Healthy who are willing to fight for us, those who are pro-Castaway and pro-Neoclash. All while your Yeomen movement will always be supported by the Healthy only.

By close-minded, complex-filled Healthy who blame their failures on Castaways. And that's another thing we differ in. We acknowledge there are good Healthy and bad Healthy, those who support us and those who go against us. We judge them individually. But you - all of you judge the Castaway race as a whole. You think all of us are dangerous, savage beasts which need to be eliminated to the last one.

The statistics are clear - the amount of violence of Healthy against Castaways and vice versa is more or less equal. I'm not saying there aren't vicious, violent Castaways, but we have to admit that the guilt is on both sides. Victimizing the whole race is nonsense. And we have to realize it in order to finally live in peace."

The speech of Alexandra, Zoya's mother, on the anti-Yeomen rally in 129, Paris

Prague

The meeting of two men happens behind the closed door.

Jaroslav Havel wouldn't have problems with the media presence of the meeting. It's his rival politician, Tomáš Zeman, which doesn't want anyone to be involved. And he has a good reason.

"So, this is my idea what we should do," Zeman says, both his arms resting on a heavy ebony table, beautiful like the rest of the furniture in the office. Only large, bronze statues of lions and former Czech kings and presidents witnessed Zeman's speech besides Jaroslav Havel.

"You cannot be serious," Havel states.

The obese man leans forward, the droplets of saliva flying in all directions from his mouth. "Do you have any other solution? If you do, then let me know!"

"Don't forget that we have no nuclear weaponry since the de-nuclearization treaty in the year 32 after Impact," Havel points out, trying to stay calm and collected after his political opponent basically presented an idea to commit genocide in front of him.

"Americans still have more than enough nukes. So does China."

Havel sighs. "Do I need to remind you what happens if you perform a nuclear strike on Bifröst?"

"I'm not an idiot, Jaroslav. I know very well Nightingale threatened to start massive terrorist attacks if we decide to reclaim the city by force. But this is a risk we need to take to save the whole of Europe. How many sleeping cells can she have outside Bifröst? How many people can they kill before we eliminate them? It will be painful, but it will settle the problem once for all."

"Jaroslav? As far as I know, we didn't shepherd together," Havel uses a Czech phrase used when someone is being uncomfortably informal. "I think we should stay at Mr. Havel. And about your idea... do you realize we're talking about millions of lives? What you suggest is a genocide of both the Castaways and the Healthy."

"So what? It will be a fucking genocide, that's alright as long as the red-haired whore burns alongside her goons in Bifröst." Evil sparks shine in Zeman's eyes as he steps away from his professional facade. Now he revealed who he really is - a ruthless, merciless leader of the Yeomen movement.

"This is where our cooperation ends before it even begins," Havel says firmly. "I'm one of the leaders whose signature you need to make your crazy plan legal. But you will never get it. Because I don't want to live with the blood of my hands - the blood of both the victims of the nuclear strike and the terrorist acts which would follow. If you want to blame me for the consequences, feel free to do so."